«protecting memory» dedication of memorial sites for

«Protecting Memory»

Dedication of Memorial Sites for Murdered Jews in Ukraine

Berdychiv, Chashin, Baraschi,

Samhorodok, Chukiv, Lypovets’, Vakhnivka, Plyskiv

16 –19 September 2019

www.erinnerungbewahren.de

http://www.erinnerungbewahren.de/

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Ljubar, June 2019: The remembrance of annihilated Jewish

communities returns to the villages and towns in Ukraine.

Maia Bondarchuk, the last living Jew in Ljubar, holds a

photo of her murdered grandparents during the ceremonial

dedication of the memorial. © Stiftung Denkmal, Foto: Anna

Voitenko

Project «Protecting Memory»: Dedication of nine Holocaust memorial sites and opening of an open-air

exhibition in Ukraine on September 16–19, 2019

After the dedication of six memorial sites in June 2019, «Protecting Memory» will hand over to the public

nine Jewish memorial sites along with an open-air exhibition in Berdytschiw between 16-19 September

2019. These memorial sites are located in regions Zhitomir and Vinnitsia (Plyskiv (two sites), Vakhnivka (two

sites), Samhorodok, Chukiv, Lypovets’, Chashin and Baraschi). Family members of Holocaust survivors will

attend the ceremonies along with representatives from the Embassy of Israel, the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine,

the German Embassy in Kyiv, the German Foreign Office, members of the Ukrainian administration, local

citizens, as well as representatives from Jewish organizations and project partners. In connection with the

ceremonial activities, it will be possible to discuss the current status of commemorative politics and the

politics of history with participants from different states and international organizations.

The international project «Protecting Memory» from the Foundation Memorial to the Murdered Jews of

Europe, carried out in close cooperation with the Ukrainian Centre for Holocaust Studies in Kiev, has

dedicated itself to transforming mass shooting sites of Jews and Roma in Ukraine into dignified memorial

and information sites. A total of 15 memorial sites in 12 Ukrainian localities and an open-air exhibition in

Berdychiv will be dedicated in June and September 2019.

More information on the memorial sites and photos from the dedication ceremonies in June and September

2019 will be available to download on the project’s website: https://www.erinnerungbewahren.de/en/

https://www.erinnerungbewahren.de/en/

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«Protecting Memory» – Program of memorial site dedication ceremonies

September 16–19, 2019

16 Sept.

Monday

10:00-11:30 – Memorial ceremony for the murdered Jews and the opening of the

outdoor exhibition in Berdychiv

12:30-13:30 – Dedication of the memorial site in Chashyn

16:00-18:00 – Commemoration of other Jewish mass graves near Berdychiv

17 Sept.

Tuesday

10:30-11:30 – Dedication of the memorial site in Barashi

17:00-18:30 – Dedication of the memorial site in Samhorodok

18 Sept.

Wednesday

10:30-12:00 – Dedication of the memorial site in Chukiv

15:00-17:00 – Dedication of the memorial site in Lypovez

19 Sept.

Thursday

9:30-12:00 – Dedication of the memorial site in Vakhnivka (village and forest)

15:30-17:30 – Dedication of the memorial site in Plyskiv (village and forest)

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Project «Protecting Memory»

© Foundation Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Location of the «Protecting Memory» project sites (pilot phase and subsequent project)

Historical Background

Estimates suggest there are more than 2,000 mass shooting sites on the territory of contemporary Ukraine.

In remote ravines and forests, in the middle of fields, in former tank traps and sand quarries, Wehrmacht,

SS, and police forces, supported by local auxiliary police and administrative offices, wiped out entire Jewish

communities – often over the course of just a few days. In many cases, the victims were forced to dig the

pits themselves and to undress. Usually, men were shot first, then women and children. Dramatic scenes

unfolded at the pits as the Jews braced for impending death.

Many of these murder sites faded into obscurity after the war. For the few survivors, it was possible to

remember their murdered family members, friends, and acquaintances only in private. Official Soviet

historiography refused to recognise Jews as a distinct group of victims. When Jewish survivors or returnees

were able to lay modest memorial stones, these had to be dedicated to «peaceful Soviet citizens».

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Only in the 1990s – in independent Ukraine – were memorial stones stating the Jewish identity of the victims

erected in numerous places. However, hundreds of mass graves remain unmarked, unprotected, and

neglected. Many are often used for agriculture or construction. Especially disconcerting are the traces of

plundering. Most of the mass graves are not dignified sites of mourning and remembrance about the Jewish

life lost.

Scope of Work

The Berlin office of the American Jewish Committee launched the international project «Protecting

Memory» in 2010. By 2015, five sites in the west of the country had been transformed into dignified memorial

sites. Supervised by the Foundation Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the Protecting Memory

project entered 2016 a new phase in its work to protect and identify mass graves. In conjunction with its

Ukrainian partners, the Foundation designed 15 memorial sites, some of which are also dedicated to

murdered Roma.

The project «Protecting Memory» combines the sustainable protection and dignified memorialization of

mass graves with historical and educational work. The complexity of the project is reflected in its areas of

activity and guiding principles:

The exact location and boundaries of graves at project sites are determined by non-invasive methods. This

is done in order to comply with Jewish religious law (Halacha), which requires that the final resting place

of the dead remains undisturbed. Representatives of the Committee for the Preservation of Jewish

Cemeteries in Europe monitor the ground-related work on site – both archaeological surveys and later

construction – so as to ensure that Halacha is maintained. Local Jewish communities are also involved in

project work.

Through «Protecting Memory», the surface of the mass graves and the adjoining area receive

comprehensive administrative protection. This includes first and foremost the transfer of the plots of land

affected to communal property, their re-designation of intended use as memorial sites, and their

corresponding entry into cadastral maps. After construction, the memorial sites are entered into the State

Registry of Immovable Monuments of Local Significance in Ukraine and, with that, placed under the state

protection.

«Protecting Memory» also sees to it that mass graves are structurally protected and turned into dignified

places of remembrance and information points. Project architects help find cost-effective and sustainable

solutions with this end in mind. Elements from existing memorials are left in place and integrated into the

new memorial sites. The protection of mass graves where looting efforts occur presents a major challenge.

Extensive historical research helps to determine the location of mass graves, the sequence of events during

mass shootings, the number of victims, the perpetrators involved, and the fate of individual victims and

survivors. The results of this research are made available to the public in a variety of ways. The history of

Jewish communities and their destruction during the Holocaust is presented in three languages on

information stelae at each project site. The results of the historical research are also used for pedagogical

work with local schools and an oral history project with university students. The aim of the educational

program is to encourage teachers, schoolchildren, and students to explore their local history on their own

and to care for the new memorial sites.

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Project Partners

«Protecting Memory» is funded by the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany and implemented

by the active participation of international and Ukrainian partners.

Close cooperation exists with the Ukrainian Centre for Holocaust Studies in Kiev. In its work at project sites,

«Protecting Memory» involves local and regional administrations, schools, and Jewish communities,

including the Jewish Community of Berdychiv, various Jewish communities in Vinnytsia, the Society of

Jewish Language and Culture, and the Bratslav Jewish Community.

Other important partners abroad include the Committee for the Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries in

Europe, the Conference of European Rabbis, the Centre of Archaeology at Staffordshire University, and

Yahad-In Unum.

In Berlin, the project team’s work is supported by a steering committee consisting of representatives from

the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Berlin office of the American Jewish Committee,

the Central Council of Jews in Germany, and the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma.

The historical work for the project is monitored by an advisory board, which includes: Dr. Anatolii Podolskyi

and Mykhailo Tyahlyy (both from the Ukrainian Centre for Holocaust Studies), Dr. Andrej Angrick (Hamburg

Foundation for the Promotion of Science and Culture), Prof. Habbo Knoch (University of Cologne), Dr.

Thomas Lutz (Foundation Topography of Terror), Jana Mechelhoff-Herezi (Foundation Memorial to the

Murdered Jews of Europe), Prof. Günter Morsch (Foundation Memorial Museums in Brandenburg), Dr. Kai

Struve (Martin Luther University – Halle-Wittenberg), Dr. Andrej Umansky (University of Cologne), and Dr.

Juliane Wetzel (Centre for Research on Antisemitism, Berlin).

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The Berdychiv Project

Memorial and Information Site for the Victims of the Holocaust in Berdychiv, Architect: Taras Savka

Given the rich and eventful history of Berdychiv’s Jewish community, an important task in project was to

provide today’s community and visitors of the town with an opportunity to learn more about the heritage of

the Berdychiv Jews and Holocaust history by creating an exhibition in the town centre. The existing Memo-

rial to the Jewish inmates of the Berdychiv ghetto and to the Righteous Among The Nations in the town

centre was extended with the addition of five stele containing information presented in three languages

(Ukrainian, English, Hebrew). This exhibition was a Ukrainian-German cooperation project and produced by

the Foundation Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (Berlin) as part of the project «Protecting

Memory» in cooperation with the Berdychiv town council, the Jewish Community of Berdychiv, the

Berdychiv Historical Museum, the Berdychiv Jewish Museum, and the Ukrainian Center for Holocaust Stud-

ies (Kyiv).

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Jewish Life in Berdychiv

Jews have been living in Berdychiv since the late 16th century, which was then a part of the Polish-Lithua-

nian Commonwealth. At the end of the 18th century Berdychiv became one of the centres of Hasidic Juda-

ism, a religious movement with a huge following. The town was known above all for its many fairs.

With the Second Partition of Poland in 1793, Berdychiv fell to the Russian Empire. From the mid-19th century

Berdychiv’s significance as a trading centre gradually diminished. In the 1850s and 1860s two state schools

for Jews were established, followed by a number of private educational institutions. The first official census

in the Russian Empire, conducted in 1897, recorded 53,728 residents of the town. Among them were around

42,000 Jews, who made up 80 per cent of the town’s population. Berdychiv was one of the heartlands of

Jewish culture in the Russian Empire.

Under Soviet rule, proletarian Jewish culture and the Yiddish language were initially encouraged. When

national policy changed, Jewish and Christian places of worship were closed. Many Jews, along with

Ukrainians and people of other nationalities, were victims of the Great Famine (Holodomor) and later the

Great Purge. At the end of the 1930s Yiddish was replaced by Russian as the language of instruction in

Jewish schools. The 1939 census recorded a Jewish population of 23,266 in Berdychiv.

The Holocaust

German troops seized Berdychiv on 7 July 1941. The persecution and murder of the Jews began a few days

after the start of the occupation and did not come to an end until just before the invasion of the Red Army.

At the beginning of August 1941 a group of Jewish women were forced to keep swimming across the Hny-

lopiat River until all of them drowned. The German occupation administration made the Jews wear identify-

ing badges on their clothing and issued a decree in August 1941 making it compulsory for them to move into

a ghetto.

The following accounts of the Holocaust in Berdychiv are based on the findings of the Soviet Extraordinary

State Commission for Ascertaining and Investigating Crimes Perpetrated by the German-Fascist Invaders.

In April and May 1944, while the war was still ongoing, the commission examined the large number of mass

graves and assessed the extent of the German crimes in and around Berdychiv. On 28 August 1941 a total

of 960 people, among them many Jews, were shot in the quadrangle of the former monastery. On 5 Septem-

ber 1941, 1,303 young Jews from the ghetto were shot near the village of Khazhyn, to the south of Berdychiv.

The shootings later continued at this site. A total of 10,656 people were murdered near Khazhyn and buried

in several mass graves.

The largest mass shooting of Jews took place on 15 September 1941. In the space of one day, around 12,000

Jews from the Berdychiv ghetto were shot at the airfield near the villages of Romanivka, Radianske (today

Romanivka) and Shliomarka (today Liubomyrka). The shootings continued the following day. Only several

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hundred skilled craftsmen were initially reprieved and permitted to remain in the ghetto with their families.

On 3 November 1941 a group of these craftsmen and their families were murdered near the village of

Sokulino (today Myrne) along with Jews who had been discovered in hiding in Berdychiv or the surrounding

area. In 1944 the Extraordinary State Commission recorded the remains of 18,640 murdered Jews in ten mass

graves near the villages of Romanivka, Radianske, Shliomarka and Sokulino. They were reburied in six mass

graves.

In July 1942 the Jews from the «Bald Mountain» («Lysa hora») forced labour camp were murdered along

with those captured during raids. The remaining Jewish craftsmen were shot in November 1943 in the

grounds of the prison, before the town was liberated from the occupiers.

According to the report of the Extraordinary State Commission, a total of 38,536 people were shot in

Berdychiv and the surrounding area, including around 30,000 Jews. In addition to Jews, thousands of Soviet

prisoners of war, as well as real or suspected opponents of the occupation regime, were shot.

Reconstruction and Remembrance

On 5 January 1944 the Red Army liberated Berdychiv. Jewish survivors soon returned. The Jewish commu-

nity attempted to re-establish itself in the town. Its members made efforts to rebuild the destroyed syna-

gogues and to aid fellow Jews who were in need. The state acted with hostility towards the Jewish com-

munity, accusing it of «violating Soviet laws». At the start of the 1960s the declining number of Jews was

used as a pretext to stop the community from using the Choral Synagogue. A glove factory was moved in

there instead. For a long time, the building in Vinnytska Street was the only active synagogue. In 1946 Jews

held a commemoration next to the mass shooting pits. This was one of the first ceremonies in the Soviet

Union to remember the «victims of fascism». For a long time, the state refused to let the Jews erect memo-

rials. It was not until 1983 that they were allowed to put up a memorial near the airfield. Its inscription stated

the number of victims. The gaining of political freedom in the late 1980s on the one hand enabled the mass

migration of Jews from Berdychiv. On the other hand, it allowed new religious, cultural, educational, chari-

table and other Jewish organisations to develop. Memorials were placed at Holocaust era mass shooting

sites. Many pilgrims visit the grave of Rabbi Levi Yitshak ben Me’ir in the Jewish cemetery. Berdychiv’s

Jewish Museum was opened in 2015.

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Memorial to the Jews from Berdychiv and the Surrounding Area

Murdered near Khazhyn

© Stiftung Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas, Anna Voitenko

Mass grave site and Holocaust Memorial near Khazhyn, November 2016

The mass grave in Khazhyn, located south of Berdychiv, is one of several large graves located in and around

the city of Berdychiv. Starting about mid-August 1941 at the latest, this site was used repeatedly for mass

shootings of Jews (and most likely of Soviet prisoners of war). Especially well documented is the shooting

at this site on 4 September 1941. On 5 September, the Commander and Higher SS and Police Leader Friedrich

Jeckeln sent a report to Berlin detailing the murder of 1,303 Jews near Berdychiv. This mass shooting of

mostly young Jewish men and women from the Berdychiv ghetto was carried out near Khazhyn. According

to the figures from the Soviet Extraordinary State Commission, a total of 10,656 individuals were shot here

by the end of 1943.

Among the «Protecting Memory» project sites, the burial site near Khazhyn is of particular significance. Due

to the high number of victims at this site, its lack of protection and the constant violation of the victims’

resting place by looters looking for valuables which the victims were rumoured to have had on them, the

task of protecting this place was a crucial one. The topography here presented a particular challenge to

protecting this mass grave.

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Memorial to the Jews from Berdychiv and the Surrounding Area Murdered near Khazhyn


Representatives of the Committee for the Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe together with the

local rabbi, the leader of the Berdychiv Jewish Community and two archaeologists from the Centre of

Archaeology at Staffordshire University examine the work of vandals in Khazhyn, April 2017.

© Hennadii Kysliuk

Memorial site at the final stage of the contraction work in August 2019, Architects Iryna Tsyba and Anton

Oliinyk

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Memorial to the Jews of Barashi and the Surrounding Area

Between 1941 and 1944, more than 170 children, women, and men from Barashi and the surrounding rayon

(district) were murdered because they were Jews. About 1,5 million Jews who lived in what is today Ukraine

were killed as a part of Nazi Germany’s policy of annihilating the Jewish people. Throughout Europe, nearly

six million Jews perished during the Holocaust.

The Jews of Barashi

Jewish life in Barashi dates to the early 17th century. A local porcelain factory, founded in 1854, was often

owned or leased by Jews before 1914. Skilled crafts and commerce provided employment for many Jews.

Others worked as day-labourers. In 1897, Barashi’s 338 Jews made up over 15 percent of the local

population. After the First World War, Ukraine descended into an era of civil war and foreign interventions

accompanied by widespread anti-Jewish violence. Barashi experienced at least one incident that led to

three Jewish deaths.

Soviet policy towards national groups was ambiguous. The regime initially strove to co-opt the Jewish

population, but at the end of the 1920s began to abandon its enticements and concessions. The last vestiges

of private commerce were banished. A Barashi synagogue was turned over to a craftsmen’s club in 1930.

Hundreds of Jews migrated from Barashi to the cities. Alongside the Ukrainians and other nationalities, the

Jews who stayed endured the famine that accompanied collectivisation. Between 1926 and 1939, the

Jewish population of Barashi fell from 576 (almost 15 percent of the population) to 320 (10 percent).

The Holocaust in Barashi

German troops captured Barashi on 21 July 1941. Wehrmacht administrators introduced the first anti-

Jewish measures such as identifying armbands and forced labour. Throughout the summer, the local police

often humiliated the Jews. Jews from nearby villages were relocated to Barashi. A Wehrmacht census

showed 166 Jews in Barashi and 11 Jews elsewhere in the rayon as of 1 October 1941. In late October or

early November, not long after Barashi’s transfer to civilian rule, German and local police from Barashi and

nearby Nepiznanychi brought a group of Jewish men to this field to dig a pit. Later, that same afternoon, the

police marched the remaining Jews in Barashi out of town to this site under the guise of evacuation. The

elderly and infirm, as well as women with small children, were brought on wagons. Some 300 m from the

killing site, the Jews were ordered to sit on the ground. Local police surrounded the Jews. By then, the Jews

had grasped what was about to happen. Some prayed. Others wept. Family members and friends bid

farewell to one another.

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The Jewish men who dug the pit were shot first. German policemen then led small groups of Jews from the

roadside to the killing site. There, the Jews were ordered to undress and directed into the pit. German and

local police then shot the Jews. At least 95 Jews were murdered that day. A second mass grave is located

at this site. Sources known to date do not make it possible to confirm who is buried here.

The fate of 80 Jews registered in Barashi Rayon as of 1 October 1941 also remains unclarified.

© Stiftung Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas

After the war, the mass grave site was surrounded 1946 by wooden fences, which later rotted and were

removed prior to non-invasive ground survey 2016. The plot of land surrounding the mass grave was

reclaimed by nature and thus protected from agricultural use. No memorial or plaque was present here.

Non-invasive forensic archaeology confirmed evidence of a second mass burial site about 15 m from the

first grave.

Memorial to the murdered Jews of Barashi and the surrounding area. Architects Iryna Tsyba and Anton

Oliinyk

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Memorial to the Jews of Samhorodok

Between 1941 and 1944, more than 500 children, women, and men from Samhorodok and the surrounding

rayon (district) were murdered because they were Jews. About 1,5 million Jews who lived in what is today

Ukraine were killed as a part of Nazi Germany’s policy of annihilating the Jewish people. Throughout Europe,

nearly six million Jews perished during the Holocaust.

The Jews of Samhorodok

Jewish life in Samhorodok can be traced back to at least 1765. In 1897, 1,234 Jews lived in Samhorodok,

about one third of the local population. Jews maintained a main synagogue and at least one study house.

Skilled crafts and commerce provided employment for many Jews. Others worked as day-labourers. Two

local mead breweries were Jewish-owned. After the First World War, Ukraine descended into an era of civil

war and foreign interventions accompanied by widespread anti-Jewish violence. The Jews of Samhorodok

experienced numerous pogroms on various occasions. Red Army soldiers killed several local Jews during

two days of plundering in October 1920. Soviet policy towards national groups was ambiguous. The regime

initially strove to co-opt the Jewish population, but at the end of the 1920s began to abandon its enticements

and concessions. The last vestiges of private commerce were all but banned. Hundreds of Jews migrated

from Samhorodok to the cities. Alongside the Ukrainians and other nationalities, the Jews who stayed

endured the famine that accompanied collectivisation. The local Yiddish school was closed in 1937.

Between 1926 and 1939, the Jewish population of Samhorodok fell from 1,244 to about 800 Jews.

The Holocaust in Samhorodok

The Germans captured Samhorodok on 22 July 1941. Wehrmacht administrators introduced the first anti-

Jewish measures such as identifying armbands and forced labour. Under civilian rule, which began on 20

October 1941, a special tax was imposed on Jews. The mortality rate for Jews rose due to disease,

exhaustion, hunger, and physical abuse. On or around 16 May 1942, a ghetto was established along the

Desna river. Jewish property left outside the ghetto was plundered. Jews could no longer obtain food or

fresh water.

On 4 June 1942, German and local policemen, as well as Hungarian soldiers, surrounded and cleared the

ghetto. Jews who tried to flee or were unable to walk were shot. The rest were forced into a school. After

several hours, the Germans selected a group of specialists for work in Koziatyn. Those who remained were

marched south towards the village of Hermanivka (today Lozivka).

That same morning, local police mobilized a group of Ukrainian farmhands to dig a pit in this field. The Jews

were led towards the pit and ordered to undress. German policemen then chased the Jews into the pit in

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small groups and shot them. Children were thrown into the pit alive. About 500 Jews were murdered here,

as were 15 prisoners of war. In the months that followed, local policemen, responding to tips from the

population or patrolling the countryside, captured numerous Jews in hiding. The Jews were brought to the

police station for questioning and then shot at the Jewish cemetery. At least eight Samhorodok Jews

managed to survive the German occupation.


The mass grave in Samhorodok, November 2016

Memorial to the murdered Jews of Samhorodok. Architect Taras Savka

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Memorial to the Jews of Chukiv Camp

In 1943, about 300 Jewish women and men, most of whom came from prewar Romania, were murdered in

this field because they were Jews. In what is today Ukraine, more than one million Jews were shot as part

of Nazi Germany’s policy of annihilating the Jewish people. Throughout Europe, nearly six million Jews

perished during the Holocaust.

German Occupation and Transit Road IV

Due to the lack of railroads on Soviet territory, the Wehrmacht relied on a network of roads during the

invasion of the Soviet Union. One road – Transit Road IV – ran from Cracow to Donetsk. In early 1942, the SS

and German police took over maintenance and expansion of this supply line. Transit Road IV became a

massive project, for which Jews, prisoners of war and peasants were used as forced labourers. Over the

spring of 1942, the managers of this project came to prefer using Jews as workers. By then, the German

civilian administration had already murdered almost all of the Jews in the central regions of Ukraine. The

SS and police began to look elsewhere for Jewish labour.

Romania and Transnistria

Between the world wars, anti-Semitism in Romania greatly influenced national legislation. The Soviet

seizure of two prewar Romanian provinces in June 1940 further radicalized anti-Jewish sentiment. When

Germany invaded the Soviet Union, Romania, a German ally, regained its provinces. In addition, it received

Ukrainian land between the Dniester and Southern Bug rivers.

This territory was called Transnistria. The government in Bucharest began expelling Jews and Roma from

Romanian territories into Transnistria. There, the Jews and Roma were confined to ghettos and camps

without food and water, adequate housing, or sanitation. Tens of thousands perished. In August 1942, SS

and police officials from Transit Road IV arrived in Transnistria in search of Jewish workers. Lured by

promises of food and housing, as well as safety for their children and elderly family members, thousands of

Jews followed the German officials over the river into Nazi-occupied Ukraine.

The Chukiv Camp and Mass Shootings

Drawing on about 600 Jews brought over from Transnistria, the SS and police set up a labour camp in Chukiv

in August 1942. The camp was in a former school building surrounded by a barbed-wire fence and guarded

by local policemen. Jews poured asphalt, crushed stones, pulled carts and road rollers, dug ditches, and

shoveled snow. The Germans shot the Jews they considered unfit for work. One large shooting of Jews

from this camp – mostly children and elderly persons – took place outside the town of Nemyriv on 14

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September 1942. In early February 1943, the Germans carried out selections at five camps, including Chukiv.

The Jews selected were held for several days without food and water. On or about 5 February, they were

brought by truck to this field. Upon arriving, the Jews were ordered to undress. Most were shot, but many

were beaten to death with tools. The victims were buried in a pit dug in advance. Afterwards, the clothing

was collected. About 300 persons were murdered here that day. Later in the year, another group of Jews

was shot near pigsties at the Kahanovych Collective Farm in Chukiv.


Because the Jews from Chukiv forced labour camp were murdered far away from their homeland, the

place where they perished remained unknown to their families. No memorial for the victims was present

at this site. The mass grave was reclaimed by nature, but this at least protected it from agricultural use.

Memorial to the murdered Jews of Chukiv forced labour camp. Architect Taras Savka

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Memorial to the Jews of Lypovets and the Surrounding Area

Between 1941 and 1944, more than 1,300 children, women, and men from Lypovets and the surrounding area

were murdered because they were Jews. About 1,5 million Jews who lived in what is today Ukraine were

killed as a part of Nazi Germany’s policy of annihilating the Jewish people. Throughout Europe, nearly six

million Jews perished during the Holocaust.

The Jews of Lypovets

The Jewish community in Lypovets was established in 1637. In 1897, the number of Jews living here was

4,135, almost half of the population. Before the First World War, Lypovets had a main synagogue as well as

several study houses. Skilled crafts and commerce provided employment for many Jews. Others worked as

day-labourers. Jews ran vocational schools, a free loan society, and a school for poor children. After the

First World War, Ukraine descended into an era of civil war and foreign interventions accompanied by

widespread anti-Jewish violence. Deserters and local criminals killed three Jews during a pogrom in May

1919. Forces loyal to the Ukrainian People’s Republic killed 34 Jews in a pogrom that same August. Soviet

policy towards national groups was ambiguous. The regime initially strove to co-opt the Jewish population,

but at the end of the 1920s began to abandon its enticements and concessions. The last vestiges of private

commerce were all but banned. Hundreds of Jews migrated from Lypovets to the cities. Alongside the

Ukrainians and other nationalities, the Jews who stayed endured the famine that accompanied

collectivisation. The synagogues in Lypovets were put to other uses. The Yiddish school was closed.

Between 1926 and 1939, the Jewish population of Lypovets fell from 3,605 to 1,353 Jews.

The Holocaust in Lypovets

The Germans, supported by Slovak forces, captured Lypovets on 23 July 1941. Wehrmacht administrators

introduced the first anti-Jewish measures such as identifying armbands and forced labour.

German police arrived in town on 11 September. About 200 Jews, mostly men, as well as 17 prisoners of

war, were seized and detained overnight. The following morning, they were taken to a pit behind the Jewish

cemetery near Berezivka and shot. On 20 October, Lypovets was transferred to civilian rule. The Jews were

confined to a ghetto shortly thereafter. Throughout the winter and following spring, many Jews died due to

disease, exhaustion, exposure, hunger, or physical abuse. One morning in the spring of 1942, German and

local police marched more than 600 Jews out of Lypovets in the direction of the village Vitsentivka (today

Vikentiivka). As they neared the village, they were directed into this field and towards two storage pits that

local peasants had enlarged on orders from police. The Jews were ordered to undress, chased into one of

the two pits in small groups, forced to lie face down on the ground, and shot. Local police cordoned off the

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site. Hungarian soldiers based in Lypovets came to watch. A smaller shooting of Jews found in hiding in the

ghetto and surrounding villages took place here a day or two later. At least 750 Jews were killed in this field

that spring. In the late summer or early autumn of 1942, the Germans shot at least 200 Jews in this field.

Smaller shootings of Jews continued to take place in the area well into the spring of 1943. At least five Jews

from Lypovets are known to have survived the occupation behind German lines.



To remember the victims, obelisks were erected at the mass graves in the field in the 1950s at the initiative

of Holocaust survivor Leontii Usharenko. Usharenko had been sent out of a pit at the last minute and wit-

nessed the murder of his family and friends. One of the mass graves was somewhat protected by large

trees, whereas the other was increasingly at risk of damage due to agricultural work.

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Memorial to the Jews of Lypovets and the Surrounding Area. Architect Taras Savka

Memorial to the Jews of Lypovets and the Surrounding Area. Architect Taras Savka

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Memorial to the Jews of Vakhnivka

Between 1941 and 1944, more than 500 children, women, and men from Vakhnivka and the surrounding area

were murdered because they were Jews. About 1,5 million Jews who lived in what is today Ukraine were

killed as a part of Nazi Germany’s policy of annihilating the Jewish people. Throughout Europe, nearly six

million Jews perished during the Holocaust.

The Jews of Vakhnivka

Jewish life in Vakhnivka dates back at least to the first half of the 18th century. In 1897, 2,404 Jews lived

here, almost 45 percent of the population. The Jews maintained a main synagogue and a few study houses.

Two dynasties of Hasidism, a branch of Judaism rooted in the Ukrainian lands, had followings here. Jews

ran a vocational school for women and a free loan society. Skilled crafts and commerce provided

employment for many Jews. Others worked as day-labourers.

After the First World War, Ukraine descended into an era of civil war and foreign interventions accompanied

by widespread anti-Jewish violence. Vakhnivka experienced at least three pogroms: in May and July 1919,

and in October 1920. Red Army soldiers killed 28 Jews during the latter incident. Soviet policy towards

national groups was ambiguous. The regime initially strove to co-opt the Jewish population, but at the end

of the 1920s began to abandon its enticements and concessions. The last vestiges of private commerce

were all but banned, synagogues closed. Hundreds of Jews migrated from Vakhnivka to the cities. Alongside

the Ukrainians and other nationalities, the Jews who stayed endured the famine that accompanied

collectivisation. Between 1926 and 1939, the Jewish population of Vakhnivka fell from just over 2,100 to about

800 Jews.

The Holocaust in Vakhnivka

The Germans captured Vakhnivka on 22 July 1941. Wehrmacht administrators introduced the first anti-

Jewish measures such as identifying armbands and forced labour. On 20 October Vakhnivka was

transferred to civilian rule.

Under German occupation, many Jews died due to disease, exhaustion, exposure, hunger, or physical

abuse. After a ghetto was established in early 1942, living conditions deteriorated further. One morning –

sources vary as to May or June 1942 – German and local police surrounded and cleared the ghetto. The

Jews were forced into the former Polish Catholic church. Local police brought 20 Jewish men to this site –

then on the edge of the Turbiv woods – and had them dig a pit. When they finished digging, German police

shot this group of Jews. German and local police then marched the Jews held in the church to the pit. Upon

arriving, the Jews were ordered to disrobe. Parents undressed their children. The Jews were chased into

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the pit in small groups, forced face down on the ground, and shot. The number of Jews murdered here was

more than 400. The ghetto and surrounding area were then searched for Jews in hiding. Some sources say

the total number of Jews killed during the clearance of the ghetto, the shooting near the woods, and the

searches that followed ultimately reached 540. A few weeks later, German and Ukrainian police shot

another group of about 40 Jews at the New Jewish Cemetery, ca. 400 m southeast of town.

Only a handful of Vakhnivka’s Jews survived the war, most by hiding in nearby villages.


The mass grave of at least 400 Jewish victims in the middle of a forest near Vakhnivka. The mass grave

was completely walled off, but the stone wall was gradually disintegrating.


Part of the mass grave of about 40 Jews in the New Jewish cemetery in Vakhnivka was marked off with a

fence. The area of the former New Jewish Cemetery was cleared of vegetation for non-invasive ground

survey, November 2016.

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Memorial to the murdered Jews of Vakhnivka. Architect Taras Savka

Memorial to the murdered Jews of Vakhnivka. Architect Taras Savka

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Memorial to the Jews of Plyskiv and the Surrounding Area

Between 1941 and 1944, at least 1,100 children, women, and men from Plyskiv and the surrounding rayon

(district) were murdered because they were Jews. About 1,5 million Jews who lived in what is today Ukraine

were killed as a part of Nazi Germany’s policy of annihilating the Jewish people. Throughout Europe, nearly

six million Jews perished during the Holocaust.

The Jews of Plyskiv

Jewish life in Plyskiv can be traced back at least to the early 18th century. In 1897, the Jewish population

here was 1,828 (almost half of the population). Plyskiv was home to a main synagogue as well as two study

houses. Skilled crafts and commerce provided employment for many Jews. Others worked as day-

labourers. The local mead brewery was Jewish owned. After the First World War, Ukraine descended into

an era of civil war and foreign interventions accompanied by widespread anti-Jewish violence. The Jews

of Plyskiv experienced at least five pogroms from August 1919 to October 1920. Perpetrators included forces

from the Ukrainian People’s Republic, tsarist loyalists, local criminals, Polish soldiers, and the Red Army.

Soviet policy towards national groups was ambiguous. The regime initially strove to co-opt the Jewish

population, but at the end of the 1920s began to abandon its enticements and concessions. The last vestiges

of private commerce were all but banned, synagogues closed. Hundreds of Jews migrated from Plyskiv to

the cities. Alongside the Ukrainians and other nationalities, the Jews who stayed endured the famine that

accompanied collectivisation. Between 1926 and 1939, the Jewish population of Plyskiv fell from 1,420 (about

one third of the population) to 793 Jews (less than a quarter).

The Holocaust in Plyskiv

German forces captured Plyskiv on or around 24 July 1941. Wehrmacht administrators introduced the first

anti-Jewish measures such as identifying armbands and forced labour. Towards the end of summer,

German police shot at least two groups of Jewish men. One of the shootings took place here, the site of a

former livestock cemetery. This location became the central killing site for Jews in this area. On 19 October

1941, the day before Plyskiv’s transfer to civilian rule, German police arrived in town and ordered the Jews

to assemble. When the Jews failed to comply, German and local police raided Jewish homes, rounded up

the Jews, and detained them in two buildings. The Jews were beaten and deprived of food and water. After

three days, the police marched the Jews to this site in two groups. The Germans ordered the Jews to

undress, chased them to the edge of the pit in small groups, and shot them. Local police formed a cordon to

prevent escapes. More than 500 Jews were murdered that day. The next day, German and local police

captured 200 Jews found hiding in Plyskiv and nearby villages. Approximately 120 Jews were shot in the

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garden of the former Soviet secret police headquarters. About 100 persons – skilled craftsmen and their

family members – were spared as forced labourers and confined to a small ghetto on the edge of town. On

27 May 1942, the Germans shot most of the Jews from the ghetto here at this site. More than 110 Jews from

Dziunkiv and 180 from Spychyntsi were also murdered during this operation. Only a handful of skilled

workers were spared. A year later, on 12 July 1943, the Germans seized the last Jews in Plyskiv, Spychyntsi,

and Skomoroshky and shot them at this location as well.

At least 16 Plyskiv Jews are known to have survived German occupation.


A mass grave lies within this fenced-in area, now in the centre part of Plyskiv, June 2016


The site of the former livestock cemetery, where most of the Jews of Plyskiv and the surrounding area

were shot, lies on the edge of a forest where vegetation grows quickly. The inscription on the obelisk does

not indicate that the victims were of Jewish origin, November 2016 and September 2017.

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Memorial to the murdered Jews of Plyskiv and the surrounding area. Architect Taras Savka

Memorial to the murdered Jews of Plyskiv and the surrounding area. Architects Anastasiia Hulevata and

Taras Savka

«protecting memory» dedication of memorial sites for

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